


Potential, prospects and possibilities

by gwendee



Series: Don't draw devil's traps in janitors' closets [3]
Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Conflict, Confused Gakuhou, Demons, Domestic Fluff, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, M/M, Magical Realism, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Supernatural Elements, Time Skips, Urban Fantasy, light humor, questionable parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21900739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwendee/pseuds/gwendee
Summary: Gakuhou had been alive for 217 years, but this…Or: Gakuhou's adventures in parenting a half-demon child.
Relationships: Akabane Karma/Asano Gakushuu, Asano Gakuhou/Original Character(s)
Series: Don't draw devil's traps in janitors' closets [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1568131
Comments: 49
Kudos: 237





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I haven't been updating much of anything but I had a recent bout of inspiration and decided to write this. 
> 
> This is set pre-canon to the first demon fic in this series, and today we watch snippets of Gakushuu's childhood as Gakuhou attempts to navigate the delicate matter of being a parent. It's recommended you read the first fic if you haven't done so despite the chronological order or you'd be confused (the roles of some OCs, especially). 
> 
> Have fun!

**Potential**

The decision to father a child is not a spontaneous one, and neither was his marriage. It would not last for long, Gakuhou thinks, because he is essentially an immortal being compared to the blink of the lifespan of a human, but Shiina makes his bed a little warmer and his house a little brighter, and his notes on human love and relationships a little more comprehensive, so he asks her to stay. He could cast an illusion of himself physically ageing until there was no longer any need to, so his appearance was never an issue. 

Gakuhou had been alive for 217 years and he has seen many many things, and yet the woman that lies before him is… different, in a funny way. He fails to hide his shock when she asks him about a baby.

“You want a child?” He says, tongue heavy, and she beams. 

“Well... “ Shiina shrugs, nuzzling into his chest. “I want us to start a family. I know you want to, too, you love kids.” 

Children were fascinating creatures to observe which explains his fixation on them, although Gakuhou doesn’t say that. A child between them would be a half-human, half-demon monstrosity, cursed from birth to never belong, unpredictable at best and dead by worst. No halfling in recorded history has survived for long - save some exceptions, although they are quickly culled when their nature is made public. Gakuhou wonders about the fate of a halfling child in the world, and whether or not it will be worth the trouble, but then he thinks. He’s been alive for centuries and he’d been in and out of several long-lasting relationships - for human standards, anyways - but never once had any of his lovers wanted a child, let alone with him. He looks down at Shiina, who was playing with her hair, and then wonders what kind of baby they could create with their genetics - not that she would know the truth about it.

And besides, Gakuhou thinks, he was curious, for lack of a better word. He was an academic, and he sought new experiences to document and new research to partake in. A halfling child…

The possibilities, the potential, he thought. Endless. 

“Of course,” Gakuhou tells Shiina, kissing her softly. “A baby. That would be nice.”

"Ga-ku-shuu," Shiina says quietly, rocking the baby in her arms. "Ga-ku-shuu!" 

The baby makes a soft cooing noise, one of his hands reach out to wrap around her finger. She laughs, high with delight, and continues calling his name. Gakuhou watches them, taking mental notes, until she turns towards him with a tinge of worry in her large eyes. "A bit odd, isn't it," she says, "he doesn't cry."

"Are babies supposed to?" Gakuhou asks.

"Well, yes," Shiina says, frowning. "Especially when he came out of me. Not a single peep. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong..." She looks down at Gakushuu, he's been back at the house for a week, and he looks around with eyes far too intelligent for his age. "Maybe he's just well behaved," she acquiesces.

"You should cry for your mother," Gakuhou tells the baby, who bears a remarkable resemblance to him, violet eyes glittering in the dark. It's past midnight now, and Shiina would not be roused for hours. The baby has been put in a cot at the foot of the marital bed, and little Gakushuu cocks his head with a simple understanding in his eyes and something almost tugs between them. And then Gakushuu starts bawling.

"Not now," Gakuhou hisses. He turns around when Shiina stirs, but the exclamation she produces is from excitement, not irritation. 

"Oh!" She says, laughing despite the circumstances, and immediately reaches down to pull Gakushuu out of the cot and into her lap. "Was Papa bothering you? Huh?" She cajoles, but looks at him with affectionate eyes, so Gakuhou leans back against the headboard and watches them.

"The baby," Gakuhou says in dismay, because too much time has passed and there has been little to no progress. He knows Gakushuu understands him, there's no way he could not, his mind was working quicker and in more convoluted ways than human children his age but- "-he's mute."

"He cries plenty," Shiina says to that. 

"He hasn't said a single word," Gakuhou laments, staring down at Gakushuu in the cot with his arms crossed. The baby stares back unimpressed, nose scrunched up in a manner that looks like his mother.

"He's 5 months old," Shiina says, rolling her eyes.

"How long do human infants take to develop language?" Gakuhou demands. He gets a laugh in lieu of a reply, and stares back down in disconcertion. Gakushuu frowns at him.

"So this is it, then," Aina says, staring impassively at the little bundle Gakuhou holds in his arms. His visit to the Calliope has been met with harried whispers and shocked gasps at the infant he carries in his arms. When Aina calls for someone, said guest came, whether or not it was head to chopping block. 

"This is it," Gakuhou says tonelessly. Gakushuu makes no noise, surveying the surroundings with interest, but his attention has thus far been captured by Aina, and his gaze follows her fixatedly as she walks around Gakuhou in a large circle. 

"A halfling," she says, "not what I expected of your first whelp but I suppose it can be useful, there are many ways that it could be broken down-"

"I want to keep him," Gakuhou interrupts her, which is already a strike, and the ludicrous request is another. The clicking of her heels pause and Gakuhou looks up to see her gaping at him, an expression of pure bewilderment on her face, hand paused in a wave.

"You want to keep the baby," she says slowly, eyebrow raised.

"I have," he starts, and clears his throat and stands up a little straighter. "I have a proposal, for your consideration. An... experiment." She blinks at him but says nothing, and he takes it as permission to continue. "Halflings have horrific survival rates but unique developmental patterns and it would be of academic interest to study them, in the correct environments-"

She waves a hand and he shuts up, watches her watch him for a very long time, and finally she sighs and leans over little Gakushuu again, lips pursed. "I will grant you an audience with the Council, per your... unusual request. I look forward to hearing your arguments then." It's a dismissal so he bows and leaves.

"He's so small," Ikeda breathes, kneeling over the cot. Gakuhou frowns when he rocks it a little too much to the side, but Gakushuu seems unperturbed, He's gazing at Ikeda with a curious gaze. "He looks like you."

"Course, it's my baby," Gakuhou says. 

"So I take it the meeting went well?" Ikeda says.

"Quite," Gakuhou says, but he doesn't hide the weariness in front of Ikeda. "I'm allowed to keep the child for 8 years."

"What happens after 8 years?" Ikeda says.

"Reassessment," Gakuhou's lips curl. In the cot, Gakushuu has lost interest in Ikeda and is instead playing with one of his toys that his mother had gotten him. 

Ikeda frowns. "He doesn't seem to be doing much, does he?"

"He's following a more human rate of development," Gakuhou says. "Although human children aren't this dexterous at 6 months." 

"At this rate, in 8 years," Ikeda starts, but Gakushuu makes a soft gurgling noise and he falls silent.

"I've been trying not to think that," Gakuhou sighs, rubbing his temples.

There's another pause. "At least he's cute," Ikeda finally says.

Gakuhou looks up from his work to see Gakushuu leaning by the door, peering into his office. He's taken to opening far more cabinets and not shutting them now that he's scurrying around on two feet, but Shiina seems gleeful about it so Gakuhou lets it happen. In the dark, Gakushuu's eyes almost seem to glow red, but it has thus far been the only inclination of any non-human traits the boy possessed. He doesn't feel a smidge of power, Gakuhou is disappointed. Perhaps 8 years will pass faster than he thinks.

"What?" He says, and Gakushuu frowns at him. He starts up some baby babble that had begun erupting and Shiina has taken an interest in engaging the child, but Gakuhou had simply chosen to observe in silence. This time he toys with the paperweight on his desk and replies in Dgyore, and watches Gakushuu's frankly humorous expressions as the child receives and comprehends the information, and then he opens his mouth.

The human baby talk equivalent of Dgyore is stilted and ridiculous but it's there, meshed into broken sentences and awkward elucidation. It sounds like human baby babble but Gakuhou's fascinated. "Come here," he says softly and Gakushuu, with permission, comes waddling forward. Gakuhou scoops him up with an arm and settles him on his lap, and speaks more in Dgyore.

Gakushuu pauses for a bit, then returns the sentiments with a more simplistic understanding of the language but it's there nonetheless. An incredibly different uptake from demon children in terms of language acquisition, which is typically achieved through magic to speed up the process and grant perfect speech in an instant. The human way... fascinating, although he doesn't think humans were that adept in adopting languages, from what he has garnered in his research.

"You're very interesting," Gakuhou murmurs in French, and Gakushuu scrunches up his face before shaking his head. Gakuhou can't help the chuckle that slips through his lips - French was a rather frustrating language in itself. He learns languages the human way to understand them and french is confusing at first try, to say the least.

But first things first. Gakuhou starts up another conversation in Dgyore and this time when he receives a reply, he carefully corrects Gakushuu's grammar. The office door opens and Shiina is there, smiling at the both of them. 

"Thought I might find him here," Shiina says, "don't you two look cosy." 

Gakushuu babbles in Dgyore which seems like more meaningless sounds to a human, and Shiina's smile widens. It's a well constructed sentence but Gakuhou is unable to give a verbal affirmation - although he privately thinks Shiina would love to see him speak "baby" back to Gakushuu - so instead, he places a hand on Gakushuu's head. Gakushuu looks back at him with shining eyes. 

The scream is shrill and originates from the playroom. Gakuhou is there in an instant although he opts to enter through the door. Shiina is sprawled on the floor, still screaming, and across the room Gakushuu has a hurt look at the face from the rejection, which stems from the two wings emerging from his back.

Shiina turns to him, terrified. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?!" She shrieks, and Gakuhou nods. He waves a hand and catches her before her head hits the ground, and then turns his attention to Gakushuu. The boy himself is crouched with apprehension, wings fluttering nervously, but he lets Gakuhou approach him.

The wings are late, but they look appropriate of a child his age -the human age of 3 - so Gakuhou relaxes a bit. He does pluck a few feathers for analysis later, and kneels down to speak to Gakushuu at eye level. "Watch me," he commands, and concentrates. His own wings unfurl from behind him and he keeps them low, careful of the confines of the room.

Gakushuu gasps. He reaches forth to touch them but Gakuhou catches his little hands before he does so lest he split his fingers open on the sharp feathers. Gakushuu will need to learn to control his soon, but his wings are currently full of down and his saber feathers will not grow in until later. 

"Glamour," Gakuhou says, and his wings disappear from view.

Gakushuu frowns and shakes his head. Gakuhou tries to hide his disappointment but it must show, or Gakushuu is more adept at picking out finer emotions than he is, because his responding distress is not as well hidden. Gakuhou washes a wave of magic over the wings, hiding them from view. The child had no aptitude for magic thus far, but the appearance of his wings were a relief so he hopes the onset of magic is... far later than it should be. He leaves Gakushuu to himself to deal with the sudden loss of his wings and rouses Shiina.

"I come find you to see you taking a nap," he teases as she blinks at him. 

"Oh, I could have sworn," she mutters, before her voice trails off and she shrugs. "Guess I'm more tired than I thought."

Gakushuu stays close to him but he doesn't touch, paced appropriately on Gakuhou's heels as they walk through the expansive hallways of the Saune. Gakushuu doesn't hide his curiosity, looking up and around the statues and murals describing different narratives that line the walls. Gakuhou thinks Gakushuu could do better to look professional, but he is young and he doesn't dawdle, so he lets it slide.

Gakushuu remembers Gakuhou's instructions well and behaves appropriately during his assessment. The council are notably displeased by his lack of magical aptitude but his wings have shown a year late, Gakuhou argues, his magic could have a delayed uptake. He has 4 years left till Gakushuu's final assessment is up, the court reminds him. Gakuhou's lips curl.

They send Gakushuu out to the Pavilion as they discuss private matters with Gakuhou. Whilst his academic achievements are great and grants him his seat with valour, there's much to be done and Gakuhou has been nothing but scarce in his position on the council as of late. A halfling child is not an appropriate reason to take an extended leave, and Gakuhou stays silent as the council speaks over his head. He's lost a bit of his bargaining power here, with his unorthodox decision to raise Gakushuu as a human and away from the demon influence. It's a practical choice because the survival rate of halflings thus far in Demon society is null. 

Stepping to retrieve Gakushuu in the Pavilion, he's reminded why. Gakushuu cries out a shrill "Papa!" in English and runs up to him, scattering the horde of other demon children surrounding him. Gakushuu's covered in bleeding scratches and he buries his face in Gakuhou's pant leg - no doubt he's too weak to keep up with the play-fighting of the full demon children, or the children had simply found a convenient target to harass.

Whatever the reason, Gakuhou doesn't pursue it. The children could not be at fault here, it would do his standing no favors if he were to punish a few demon children over a halfling. Injuries sustained from demon games were not uncommon and Gakushuu's seemed rather mild, if anything. He was simply too weak.

Gakuhou kicks him off his leg, and Gakushuu lands in the ground harshly. The children who have been watching with hesitance thus far are dismissed with a wave of Gakuhou's hand, and Gakushuu gets to his feet and thankfully says nothing.

Much later back at the house does Gakuhou heal Gakushuu's wounds and he realizes they're more severe than he initially assumed. Gakushuu had broken bones and a cracked skull, but he doesn't cry, which Gakuhou knows is impressive given his age and the volatility of human children. He gets a head pat for his efforts, and when Shiina comes into the room father and son morph into a playing pair. Gakuhou sees the mask of indifference slip over his son's face as he pretends to laugh. He's finally acting like a demon, no doubt finally understanding his place in the hierarchy after the assessment and the Pavilion, although Gakuhou almost regrets leaving him there.

Gakushuu learns quickly that he has no place among demons and that his presence is tolerated, barely. He's a scientific experiment - as recorded - and in order to serve his duty as one, he has to be a scientific experiment. Gakuhou feels a little pang of... something, the first time he has to leave Gakushuu alone in the laboratory, watching the others handle him with an awkward gentleness that only exists because Gakuhou was watching from the one way mirror. Gakushuu stares directly through the panel as if he knows Gakuhou is there.

Gakuhou leaves, briefly, and when he returns Gakushuu has mottled bruises running up his arm. Gakuhou takes offense for what it is, disrespect of his authority, because on paper Gakushuu was nothing but Gakuhou's property, for the lack of a better word, and damaging it deliberately was an insult. In actuality the lines blurred more and Gakuhou's property or not, Gakushuu was a halfling whose existence defied nature and whose status was null, and in any event of an emergency the laboratory samples would be saved before Gakushuu himself. Although it could be argued that Gakushuu was a sample. 

Demons were conservative creatures - all sentient beings were, in fact, that change of the status quo was naturally opposed - and Gakushuu went along with that, his energy was just simply wrong. Even the youngest of demons would know that Gakushuu simply didn't fit in with a glance.

Gakuhou glances down at his watch. It was almost time for Shiina to return which means Gakushuu would need to, too. He'd quickly grasped the concept that demon related activities were to be kept hidden from his mother and that he was to immediately alert Gakuhou should any secret slip - the kid especially didn't want a repeat of his mother's distress, Gakuhou wasn't quite sure that Gakushuu fully understood that he was different from the humans yet but at least the child was obedient.

Gakushuu is in the backseat of the car that a drunkard rams into on a Thursday morning. Shiina dies on impact, Gakuhou feels her heart stop, and he's glad she has the comfort of a swift death. He quickly casts an illusion of injuries over himself and Gakushuu, and they stay in the car until they're extracted by a rescue team.

The drunkard is alive and screaming incoherently from where he is pinned under his own vehicle. Gakuhou glares at him and multiples his pain twofold just because. 

Gakuhou feels her heart stop, which is why he gets a shock when she opens her eyes and turns to Gakuhou, asking about him. He stares at her because her heart is no longer beating and she speaks to him and Gakushuu as if she feels no pain, and that display puts her on the ambulance with Gakuhou and Gakushuu. She flatlines almost immediately after hitting the stretcher and the paramedics try to save her, but Gakuhou knows it's futile. She should have been dead for 15 minutes by then.

The funeral and legal proceedings are a whirlwind so he pushes this anomaly to the back of his mind for now, and he only recalls it when he sees Gakushuu crouched over something in the soil. It's a dead bird dissected in several parts, and Gakushuu has made notes on anatomy in childish scrawl on a notebook, but that’s not his current focus. Gakushuu seems to be concentrating, hands out in front of him, and then the slightest twinge of magic appears. Gakuhou watches in awe as the bird knits itself back together right before his eyes before hopping up and flying off, and then landing three feet away in several different pieces.

He'd never considered the idea of Gakushuu's magic playing a part in Shiina’s seemingly impossible reanimation. He wasn’t going to lie, Gakuhou hadn’t been aware that Gakushuu had any magical potential before today. He'd simply thought of Shiina's case as something of pure human will, a concept so intriguing that they've barely scratched the surface of comprehension, something that allows even humans to break the laws of space-time in the most remarkable of ways. He doesn't think it was because his 4 year old child could had necromancy aptitude, and to bring his mother back for a whole fifteen minutes and have her interact in such a genuine manner! It was complex magic that most demons would struggle with, and yet...

Gakuhou stares at Gakushuu, who has went to retrieve the bird with a blotchy face and stained tears. With whatever he did to Shiina, his abilities should be top, the bird should very well be on its way to its second life. In Gakushuu's second try on the bird it hops three more times before crumbling apart. Yet in the most stressful of situations Gakushuu had an uncanny grasp of his power, something that has failed to surface until now.

Human will, Gakuhou thinks, unpredictable and... full of possibilities. Halflings were just that. Confined to demon expectations Gakushuu was weak and useless, but with a bit of leeway... and the allowance of his human expression... T his time the bird hops up again, makes it five steps away, then flaps its wings and take off. It disappears into the clouds and Gakushuu turns to him, eyes red-rimmed.

"You did good," Gakuhou tells him. Demons shouldn't entertain petty human emotions but it seems that Gakushuu was unique in that sense. Perhaps a better grasp of his emotions instead of hiding it would encourage more of his magic. 

He lets Gakushuu run over and hug him, and he places a hand on Gakushuu's head. The kid deserved this much, at least.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oH my god you guys [Karushuu Week](https://gwendeeagain.tumblr.com/post/188891830199/karushuu-week-2019) is almost here. It's literally in 1/2 days (depending on your timezone). I'm so excited.
> 
> I don't know why I'm continuing to expand the demonverse. Speaking of, I'm planning on writing a slightly darker (?) version of the main fic, including some of the things I omitted in this version because it went in a way I wasn't expecting. I don't know when it'd come out because... I don't know, I'm in a bit of a funk. Oh wells.

**Prospects**

Gakushuu’s wings never develop properly beyond the way they do. At the human age of 6 he loses most of his down feathers and are replaced with flight feathers reminiscent of a bird’s wings, but saber feathers never set in. It may take far longer to grow or it may simply be a genetic anomaly, given that Gakushuu is a halfling after all.

There is a grueling flight course in the Fuin that most demons are not encouraged to attempt because of its challenging nature, and the council makes Gakushuu fly said course for his flight assessment once he had reached an appropriate age for demon wing development, despite Gakuhou’s attempts of convincing them otherwise. They scorn over his underdeveloped wings and their stunted stature, and he has an audience of demons who fail to hide their laughter as Gakushuu stands nervously at the starting line.

Gakushuu turns around to look at Gakuhou, who’s standing aside with his arms crossed. His wings are out but wrapped around him, a childish comfort-seeking act that earns the ire of the audience, but their comments are mild due to Gakuhou’s and Aina’s presence. Gakushuu seeks an unnecessary amount of affirmation in Gakuhou’s opinion, no doubt to fulfil his human needs, but Gakuhou is carefully watching Gakushuu’s moods which seem to affect his performance most times. Luckily the child seems to be getting a better grasp of his emotional state as he grows older, but it’s still a hassle, especially since it means the audiences’ remarks lowers his self esteem.

Gakuhou scowls. “Do your best,” he says flatly, earning confused looks from the council and a bemused one from Aina, but he doesn’t care about them. Gakushuu seems encouraged despite the lackluster delivery and Gakuhou thinks it could boost his timings by a few seconds, if anything.

“It’s not going to kill him, is it,” Ikeda says, leaning against the banister. Gakuhou doesn’t grace him with a reply because after all of that, he’s not sure. The flight course itself is not inherently dangerous but it’s made for, after all, full demons with a better-than-average speed. The council has no particular desire to keep Gakushuu alive and none of the more brutal traps have been disabled. Gakuhou has thoroughly prepared Gakushuu on evasive maneuvers but he has not seen the child fly unobstructed, there was not much opportunity for training in the human dimension. 

Demon wings are weaponized, made for slashing and slicing and cutting. Saber feathers are sharp and thin, but they are also heavy and not the most aerodynamic. The fastest flier ever recorded is an angel by the name of Lily, who had her saber feathers thinned to attempt the Fuin course. Gakuhou is an academic and he should have hypothesized it, really, because Gakushuu had bird-like wings and his lack of saber feathers meant that he should be the most suited for flight amongst all the demons. By the end - and Gakuhou, in his lack of faith didn’t believe Gakushuu could make it past the fifth obstacle and the disbelieving others didn’t think he would make it past the third - Gakushuu stands at the end of the course, wings wrapped around himself, feet shuffling nervously as hundreds of eyes stare in wordless horror. 

Gakushuu beats Lily’s record by three minutes and twenty six seconds.

Nobody says anything as Gakuhou gets down on one knee and Gakushuu barrels straight into his chest, wings flapping like a frantic bird. The speed by which Gakushuu slams into him forces the breath out of Gakuhou’s lungs, but he picks his son up with a bit of what he’s not ashamed to admit as proprietorial pride. “Good,” Gakuhou praises, ignoring the gaping gallery, a single word that leaves Gakushuu a happy squirming child in his arms, beaming up at Gakuhou in all his six years of age.

The Games, as they are dubbed, seemed to be a direct consequence of Gakushuu’s display in the Fuin. The demon children have decided that - in looser terms - Gakushuu’s skill in flying made him perfect target practice, but their words are laced with a jealousy and bitterness from a halfling besting them in any skill. Gakuhou had enjoyed the expressions of the council’s face in the debrief, their lips curling as they reassessed Gakushuu’s time which admitted that they were inferior to him, and Gakuhou had felt nothing but pride then, and smug. 

Now he feels offended that Gakushuu is yet the source of mockery despite proof of his aptitude, and even more so that he was not informed of “the Game” prior. The Council must have known about it, of course, they had to approve the children’s descent into the human dimension. Clearly they’re still dealing with their own wounded prides.

He glares at the three demonlings who hang their heads in shame in his front lawn, and stares in distaste at the lack of remorse they show, overshadowed by their superiority complex. Gakuhou had to learn the hard way that not everyone can be the top dog, sometimes you just had to admit other people were better than you and live with the fact, perhaps pursue other fields to excel in if you insisted on being number one. 

When he sends the three away - there is not much he can do, after all, they were given explicit permission by superiors to be allowed to maim Gakushuu - he heals Gakushuu’s wounds and sits him down. “Three days a year, you will be fighting for your life,” Gakuhou tells him, “they are not allowed to kill you, but do not take that as leniency or hope, death by direct action is forbidden but you can still die by sustained injuries. Similarly you will not be allowed to kill them, but you can hurt them,” Gakuhou pauses, “if you are able to, of course.” 

He doesn’t tell Gakushuu that he could be approached if things go south, but two hours later Gakushuu appears by his side again with a kitchen knife in his mouth and slashes running up and down his arm. Two demons pause at the doorway, unwilling to step inside Gakuhou’s residence, and Gakuhou scowls at them until they leave. He’s pleased to note that one of the children has a nasty jagged mark running along the side of his face.

“I don’t have saber feathers but I have a real knife,” Gakushuu mutters sourly, his snark shining through. He rarely speaks out of turn, in fact he rarely speaks at all, but Gakuhou enjoys it when he does. It reminds him of his mother, a little, and Gakushuu has a cute sort of part-Dgyore, part-Japanese part-English sort of speech pattern that ticks up whenever he gets irritated, which to Gakuhou’s delight is often. It’s a good look into the evolution and integration of different languages and is also adorable.

“You are a nuisance, little brat,” Gakuhou tells him quietly, but Gakushuu doesn’t take offence. Instead he snuggles up to Gakuhou’s side - why Gakuhou allows it is beyond him but humans, as it turns out, requires a lot of physical contact to ensure healthy psychological development. It’s an odd idea and Gakuhou has no clue how much of said contact Gakushuu requires, but he simply lets Gakushuu seek him out when he needs to, it should suffice. Shiina herself had been rather tactile, Gakuhou is used to it.

Then something thumps on the roof and Gakuhou feels the presence of two more demon children. Gakushuu, for all his still-there weakness for magic despite the occasional fluke, senses the duo and gets up with a little pout, pulling out a second knife.

Gakushuu is happily scribbling away when the door knocks, and Gakuhou lets Ikeda in. It’s been a while since he visited, he’s been on an attachment with Hyumin and might take a seat in the council soon. He has a break, he says, and steps into the house. 

Gakushuu is already on his feet, politely bowing, but he’s left to his own devices. Ikeda starts a discussion about his work - resource management - and then he asks about Gakuhou.

“I’ve been thinking of starting up a new project,” Gakuhou says, “something I can involve Gakushuu in, hopefully, to better observe him.” Ikeda hums thoughtfully and looks over at Gakushuu, who has half a rat on his lap. Where was the other half?

“Have you considered Gakushuu’s education?” Ikeda says. “He’s human 7 now, isn’t he? Most kids start school about this age.”

Gakuhou ruminates over the idea for a while and decides that education would be an interesting line of enquiry to go down. An experiment then, he decides, several years to observe the growth of human children and manipulate their learning. Gakushuu could join in too, interact with peers his age who don’t wish him dead. He has a proposal by morning which he sends in, he gets an audience with the council in three days, and a week after that his initial plans are approved. Kunugigaoka Middle School was underway.

Gakushuu’s magic is volatile just like he is, testy and uncooperative. Gakuhou watches Gakushuu fail again at a simple spell - transfiguration - and huff as not even the slightest bit of magic sparks from his fingertips. Mention of his mother had proven to be useless thus far, provoking nothing but grief, and Gakushuu's necromancy feats have since dwindled. He's brought another swallow back to life and it lasted for 3 days, then a cat which bumbled around with an awkward gait for an hour and then fell back into little pieces. Nothing came close to his first ever attempt with Shiina, and Gakuhou suspects Gakushuu might have been unaware of his actions then, simply fuelled by his want to see his mother for a little while longer. Gakuhou wishes he could tap into that power but he has no idea how to harness it or relate spells such as transfiguration to real-life motivational events. He tries to coach his son through the motions with the knowledge that with his track record, Gakushuu should be nothing but excelling at magic.

He doesn't, of course, and Gakuhou fails to hide his frustration. His deadline is almost up, come Gakushuu's 8th birthday if the boy fails to impress the panel of judges, he would be taken away and possibly used for various unethical experiments before his cadaver is further broken down for science or magic. Years of Gakuhou’s investment in the boy would be for nothing, his academic standing for spending time on a useless project worsened. 

That, and…

Gakuhou thinks about the boy, his son. Gakuhou himself is not a young parent, in fact most demons his age would have been expected to sire at least one child. Gakuhou had declined to, even when approached with several offers, he had thought of children as a burden that he had no wish to bestow upon himself and had chosen to pursue his research further. Imagine the hypocrisy that stirred when word travelled that Gakuhou did indeed have a child, a halfling no less! His prior suitors had been pissed at him but Gakuhou owed them nothing. 

All children were dependents but demon children grew faster than humans, if Gakushuu had been a full demon he would already be eager to spend less and less time within Gakuhou’s presence, but from his knowledge most human children stayed dependents for a decade more. How annoying it is for Gakuhou to wish to never have something to be saddled with and yet ended up with the most demanding of species to father. 

When he steps into the room he vacated, Gakushuu is pouring over his notes again, and he doesn’t seem to have registered Gakuhou’s presence. Gakuhou watches his child silently as he worked with a methodological precision that Gakuhou himself possessed, and he thinks about how much Gakushuu looked like a young version of himself, down to his eyes and the way he worked. Gakuhou thinks that he did an acceptable job in Gakushuu given the challenges and the limitations presented.  Then Gakushuu sets his notes aside and focuses on the mound of soil in front of him. His fingers dance across the floor in strange patterns Gakuhou has never seen before, and the look on Gakushuu’s face tells him that the child doesn’t quite understand either, but there’s an instinctual action there, something that spurs Gakushuu on. Most demon magic is dictated by spells in Asetyc and the words that flows off Gakushuu’s mouth is a strange mix of Asetyc, Dgyore and Japanese, words mixing together and sentence structure stilted. 

A sprig of a tree erupts from the soil, sending dirt flying everywhere. Gakushuu falls back on his ass and then gets to a crouch again, poking at the sprig before scowling, and snapping off a branch. “It’s supposed to be an oak,” Gakushuu says aloud, which tells him he’s been aware of Gakuhou’s presence the whole while. “This is aspen.”

Gakuhou doesn’t comment on the magic he never knew Gakushuu could do. Even now he’s learning all sorts of things about Gakushuu, it seems, like how demon magic will never work for Gakushuu but he seems to have his own unconventional twists that Gakuhou cannot help him with because he does not understand. It does seem to work well enough for Gakushuu, even if the task he assigned had been to turn the soil into sand and not grow an entire living plant from it. “Perhaps I should leave you to experiment on your own,” Gakuhou says, earning a surprised look from Gakushuu. “It seems that the demon ways of practicing magic does not favor you at all.”

“I’ve been trying,” Gakushuu protests hotly, “I almost got it, but-”

“No,” Gakuhou corrects, and he places a hand on Gakushuu’s head. The boy looks up at him. “That is not a punishment. It really seems that your human nature interferes with your ability to perform pure demon magic but in which case has granted you a new plethora of prospects. I was incorrect to force unsuitable ways on you.” His hands leave Gakushuu’s head and the boy blinks in shock. 

“You should experiment and find your own ways of harnessing your magic,” Gakuhou says, and Gakushuu nods at him with a newfound determination.

Gakuhou's schedule grows more packed as preparations for Kunugigaoka goes underway. He spends less time training Gakushuu on his magic and even though Ikeda offers to help, Gakuhou knows Gakushuu is best left on his own. He feels better about it because Gakushuu is competent with magic, just in a different way.

On the morning of Gakushuu's 8th birthday they go immediately to the Saune where there is already a crowd waiting, eager for the assessment and possible execution of the first halfling in millennia. The sensationalist event seems to have resulted in a temporary truce between the two factions, there's a sizeable angel audience watching there and despite Gakushuu's initial bravado, he finds the child clinging to his pant leg. A ripple of laughter spreads across the audience that Gakuhou doesn't acknowledge, but he lets Gakushuu hold on. He doesn't begrudge the child being nervous, especially with everybody jeering at him. Most of it die down when the council members arrive.

Gakushuu’s wings wrap around him. He’s too old for that now. 

They have Gakushuu run through a basic flight course and he smashes records brilliantly, to the surprise of many who have been sure his results at the Fuin were a fluke. Gakuhou does a terrible job of hiding the pride on his face and he earns a playful jab in the ribs by Ikeda. The onset of the Games have garnered interest in Gakushuu’s fighting abilities, after many of the demon children have returned harmed and Gakuhou had confirmed no involvement in the skirmishes, so Gakushuu is pitted against some of the older children in a ring. The lack of saber feathers means that his wings are not weapons, but Gakushuu is quicker and more agile than even Gakuhou thought he could be and he fights in a way no demon or angel has ever seen. The results are uncertain with that one.

Then came the section of the assessment which Gakuhou is surest about, which he thinks would garner the largest reaction from the audience. Gakushuu is a bundle of nerves and keeps his head low, but he kneels next to the corpse that Gakuhou had requested been procured from the human dimension. Gakuhou is attuned to Gakushuu’s state and he feels a strange sort of power hum between them.

The woman, dead for 5 hours without a heartbeat, sits up and stretches. Disbelief sweeps through the audience. She leans forward and pats Gakushuu’s head in the same manner Gakuhou always did, stood up and greets the council with the appropriate titles Gakushuu had been taught to use, and then walks across the large field and crumples to the ground.

Gakuhou doesn’t stick around for the debate on whether his son gets to keep his life. He stalks across the field, throwing sharp looks to anyone who calls for a retest or demands to slice Gakushuu open to see what he’s made of, it should be impossible for a child, let alone a halfling to be able to even think about handling that stage of necromancy. 

Gakuhou is sick of that. He’s sick of everybody doubting his decisions, watching over his shoulder, poking and prodding at Gakushuu like he’s theirs to do away with. His son was his and as far as Gakuhou was concerned, Gakushuu had proven his worth. If he had been a full demon there would be an immediate celebration for a child prodigy in their midst, and yet.

Gakushuu runs into his arms and Gakuhou scoops him up. He’s too old for that now. “We’re going,” Gakuhou says quietly, and it does not go unheard by the audience. Ivanoff stands up from his seat in the stands to voice his protest and Gakuhou whips around and glares at him.

“Home?” Gakushuu whispers, burying his face in Gakuhou’s neck. He’s done well today.

“Home,” Gakuhou says gently, ruffling his son’s hair, and then they’re gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, happy new year/decade and most importantly happy birthday to my blonde trash boy Gakushuu Asano! I love him so much. 
> 
> This shall be the final installment to this short little fic (I say short but ??? there are so MANY words) but I wanted to write it and I had fun writing it. I still do have a bit more for Karushuu week that I didn't manage to all finish the week itself but I'll continue slowly posting it over the next week or so, AHAH a shame there are less entries than I hoped to read :( but just throwing it out there, better late than never ;) 
> 
> I tend to go on and on if no one stops me so I shan't bore you forever.

**Possibilities**

Aina shows up on Gakuhou’s doorstep, which is a surprise. She hasn’t been out of the demon dimension in years but now she’s stepped out to pay Gakuhou a house visit. She pushes a box into his hands and Gakuhou quickly steps back to let her enter.

“Where is he?” Aina says immediately, looking around the house and even under the table like she expects Gakushuu to crawl out from under there like a spider. Gakuhou sets the box on the coffee table. “He’s at school,” he says, “that’s what human children do. He should be home in an hour.”

“Hm,” Aina says. She sets her heels by the door and it’s a little odd to see her shorter than Gakuhou, he’s used to having her stare at him at the same level, but her height does nothing to diminish her power. Although she doesn’t seem like she’s here on business, which makes it all the more puzzling.

“Why are you here?” Gakuhou asks.

“Can’t I pay a visit to my brother and my nephew?” She says, and gestures for Gakuhou to open the box. It’s full of her stuff, with books and stationery and even a throw blanket. It’s completely unnecessary as Aina can procure whatever she needs with a snap of her fingers but Gakuhou knows it’s more of a message than anything, her belongings being brought over to his residence means… 

“...you’re staying?” Gakuhou says, but with a snap of his fingers, he moves the box up to a guest room. Aina smiles at him and says nothing more. Perhaps she’s here to supervise him or Gakushuu? But he should have received a notice on that, and Aina seems relaxed. Gakuhou wonders if she’d simply come on vacation. When Gakushuu arrives, he immediately registers to the change in the house and greets Aina appropriately, but it shocks both him and Gakuhou when she waves a hand and says, “none of that, I’m not here for work,” so Gakushuu twists his face in mild confusion but calls her “auntie?” in a soft voice, and then lets out a squeak when she pats him on the head.

Gakuhou’s mouth is wide open, and he watches in mute shock as Gakushuu blurts a hasty excuse and dashes up the stairs. Aina stares in amusement and examines her nails and says “that’s how you do it, right?” and mimes patting an invisible Gakushuu in front of her like one would with a dog.

“...Yes,” Gakuhou says.

Aina stays for a month. At the end of the month Gakuhou watches as she picks Gakushuu up with an arm and gives him a peck on the cheek, and Gakushuu gives her a bright look that had previously been reserved solely for Gakuhou himself. Gakuhou doesn't know what to feel about that.

Gakushuu seems to understand that whatever charade this is has come to an end. What comes across him then is the perfect picture of polite apathy and Gakuhou can't help the relief that washes over him, knowing Gakushuu has not formed too-sentimental attachments. Aina searches Gakuhou's face and Gakuhou feels uncomfortably vulnerable. They both turn to watch Gakushuu leave for school.

"I was curious," Aina then says, a contemplative look on her face. "Why you chose this path. Human domesticity is not what I envisioned in your future, dear brother, but I think it suits you rather well."

Gakuhou bristles. "What are you implying?" He says, teeth bared, but she laughs as if he were a puppy growling, which to her he probably is. They're centuries apart and Gakuhou knows he has nothing on her power or authority.

"You like him," Aina says. "The kid."

"Of course I do, that's my son," Gakuhou says stiffly. What is she trying to tell him? 

Aina laughs again. "Of course," she says gently, patting his cheek. Gakuhou spends the rest of the day after she's gone to mull over her words, but he comes nowhere closer to a conclusion than he had when he first saw Gakushuu 9 years ago.

Gakushuu’s lifetime has been extended for another cycle until he is 16, by which he would have another assessment. Gakuhou wonders what trials Gakushuu would have to face then, but perhaps he’s been living in the human dimension and have grown accustomed to the slow pace of life that 8 years seems like a long time and not the previous blink of an eye he’s used to. That was perhaps attributed to Gakushuu’s development, he grows up rather slow, although he’s slightly appeased to see that it’s the normal rate for human growth. 

Gakushuu’s status in the demon council has changed, just a little bit. He’s been irrevocably and begrudgingly deemed the fastest flier ever, albeit the one with the weakest wings. It earns him some sort of weird limbo between warily respected, and he’s asked to test fly the most prototype flight products or courses. Gakuhou knows it’s partly due to the lack of care and ethical considerations that others need to take when using a halfling as a test dummy.

It also seems that Gakuhou’s display of his… aggression has gotten around. Word has it that Gakuhou was ridiculously protective of his halfling child, which sparked multiple controversies and debates that were, of course, held over Gakuhou’s head in Court. Ivanoff calls for Gakuhou to step down from his empty position, Gakuhou tells him to fuck off, Jacques hits them both over the head and tells them that they’ll both be exorcised if they kept squabbling like children. And then the Court doors open and Gakushuu flies in, screaming. There are demons at his heels no doubt out-flown by the child who immediately goes for cover under Gakuhou’s figure. There’s a horrified pause at the commotion and Gakuhou knows he’s about to be demoted.

“They were going to cut my wing off,” Gakushuu wails. Gakuhou’s anger at him diminishes, and his rage at everything else intensifies. 

Across him Ivanoff sneers “that’s a smart choice, I’d like to do that myself,” and Gakuhou bares his teeth, and then Saravanan steps between them and yanks hard on both their wings. It’s an undignified method of containing children and it works, Gakuhou and Ivanoff both toppling over to the side and Gakushuu leaps out of the way. He’s now under the scrutiny of multiple powerful demons who share Ivanoff’s sentiments without Gakuhou as a shield.

He has something better. Almost immediately after Aina steps out of her seat and plucks Gakushuu off the floor, bouncing him in an arm. Gakushuu says “auntie Aina!” and the Court quietens. There’s thirty-two people in the world who gets to address Aina by her name - Gakuhou and their two other siblings due to blood relation (their parents are long dead), her daughter, the high council panel she sits on, their angel equivalent of high court, and now Gakushuu, her half-demon, half-human nephew.

“Don’t be silly, Gakushuu,” Aina says, “nobody is cutting off your wing today.” 

Ivanoff immediately bows for forgiveness, and Gakuhou bows as well in thanks. The specification of “today” means that everything could change tomorrow, but for the next 24 hours Gakushuu has immunity that goes beyond even what Gakuhou possesses. Gakushuu seems to understand that as well, and he opts to stay next to Gakuhou for the rest of Court, quietly listening. Nobody pays him any mind.

When Gakushuu steps over the threshold swathed in a mountain of pink and red and white, the wine glass stem breaks in Gakuhou's hand. Gakushuu jumps, startled, and then looks guiltily down at the memorabilia in his hands. 

"Valentine's day," Gakushuu says softly, "it's a human holiday where-"

"I know what Valentine's is," Gakuhou says. He'd indulged Shiina in its celebration. What he wants to know is why Gakushuu seems to be drowning in pink candy hearts. Gakushuu stares at him blankly as if to ask about his father's reaction but Gakuhou has no answer for it. He wordlessly get bup from his seat and shuts himself in his office, and then begins freaking out.

The last time Gakuhou panicked had been...he can't recall, and he has perfect memory, which means Gakuhou had never freaked out in his life. But here he was, hands on his knees with his back against the door, practically hyperventilating about Gakushuu and his Valentine's gifts. Gakushuu was a halfling but the half that wasn't a demon made him a human, and it was commonly known that humans were irrational, emotional creatures. This of course meant that Gakushuu had the capacity to turn into said emotional creature and Gakuhou had been aware of that, he truly had, but suddenly it hits him that Gakushuu was going to have feelings that Gakuhou was wholly unprepared for-

No, Gakuhou wasn't entirely defenseless. He was an academic and he had published numerous studies on the subject of human psychology and information. He had the material from an objective standpoint, which was ideal. He decides to educate Gakushuu on everything he needs to know about handling human emotions and relationships. He pulls out literature written by both demons and humans alike, acknowledging that the perspectives of demons might not be sufficient given that Gakushuu is also under the human influence. Their brain structures and biochemical responses to stimuli in themselves were different, as Gakuhou learnt from the laboratory experiments involved in poking around Gakushuu’s head, and a little bit of a change can result in cascading repercussions. Gakuhou had, thus, no way of accurately predicting his son’s psychological responses, and for the first time that worries him.

When he steps back outside Gakushuu is practicing his magic, sending the cards up in flames one by one, whispering spells Gakuhou doesn’t recognize. He turns to Gakuhou and shrugs, “not like I was going to keep those anyways,” and Gakuhou feels a little relieved. 

Gakuhou instills the knowledge of human emotion into Gakushuu but he never truly knows how well Gakushuu handles and utilizes that information until Gakushuu is enrolled into Kunugigaoka Middle School. He’s 13 and Gakuhou watches as he smiles at a human girl and she turns into what Gakuhou’s notes would describe as infatuated. Gakushuu watches in awe as he works around humans in a grace that no demon could ever possess - they were experts at manipulation, yes, after years of observation of the human psyche from an objective stance demons had a great deal of experience and resources to know how humans tick, their fears and goals, their instinctual responses. Gakuhou himself, and many of the demon council, were intimidating and terrifying negotiators.

Gakushuu was none of that. Instead he played a different angle and the people that he interacted with weren’t left in fear or out of their comfort zones, they were enthralled by him in a way like no other, and he had them under his thumb. Gakushuu understood human emotions like no other and he knew exactly how to use them, coupled with whatever he possessed as a demon. It was fascinating to watch him work, and that year the Valentine’s gifts Gakushuu procures are battle spoils, and Gakuhou appreciates them. 

The first human-demon contracts were forged to provide each party something they cannot possess. To the human it was power, as demons were far more powerful than a human was, and to a demon it was control, as political war waged on with their angelic counterparts, because humans were adept at sophisticated governance and strategies of war. As time went on and each species developed, the relationship via the contract bond changed. 

Previously the contract bond had been forged by a demon’s magic in entirety and thus demons held the power, but as humans wove their primitive magic into more complicated strands, the nature of the bond changed as well. The wager of each bond differed to each demon’s will, and the idea of a human soul as the standard price was popularized early human 1600s as demon society reached an explosion age of human-related research, and a “soul” was, simply put, the essence of a human that could be used in many studies and fetched a high price. 

Of course, not all demons formed contracts for money. Many demons did so out of curiosity, boredom, Gakuhou had participated in a fair number of short-lived contracts in his days but he quickly grew tired of the monotony of it. He did, however, cultivate an interest in the human condition then, inspired by the simply ridiculous requests his human contractees asked of him. 

Gakuhou is, for the lack of a better word, shocked when Gakushuu comes back with all signs pointing him forming a contract with a human. The change in his magic signature is there, low and thrumming, so small it’s almost undetectable but Gakuhou was very aware of Gakushuu’s states. It must be a weak bond then, without the wager of a soul most likely. 

He’s even more surprised to find out the identity of Gakushuu’s contractee, one of his schoolmates, Karma Akabane. Karma is a delinquent, a troublemaker, and he apparently knows the magic practices for reaching out to a demon and containing one. He was interesting, for sure, and Gakuhou finds in amusement that Akabane has painted his house in multiple devil’s traps, an impenetrable anti-demon fortress. He watches Gakushuu slip into his window regardless, their bond rendering the traps null.

Gakuhou wonders how long their bond would last, and what Gakushuu would choose to gain out of it.

Gakuhou finds that his worst dreams are all coming to life in front of him. He never panics and yet he feels smaller than he ever feels against the Court and the Panel, because he has no defense. For all that he’d done for Gakushuu, thus far it has been petty misgivings that he’s sure the Court finds secretly amusing, but today he’s killed a fellow council member for a halfling. For all that Ivanoff is annoying and horrible, he’s powerful and influential and most importantly useful, something that the Court thinks Gakuhou no longer is. Still he holds his head high and lets them tear into his work, his achievements, Gakushuu. His fate is undecided and he’s dismissed. Aina doesn’t look him in the eye.

When he returns home Gakushuu is still asleep, one wing left, the last trickles of poison seeping from his blood. Gakuhou sighs and sits by his bedside and wonders if having a child was worth all of this, his job and his reputation on the line, 200 years of his work decimated by what he did for a halfling he’s known for 15 years, and yet…

Gakushuu’s eyelids flutter open and he says “Papa?” quietly in Dgyore, looking at him with every single human emotion Gakuhou will never be able to fully comprehend. 

“You’re a lot of trouble,” Gakuhou tells him quietly, a hand stroking the curve of his cheeks. 

Karma Akabane and Irina Jelavic burst through the doors with no prior announcement. Two humans intruding on a demon’s residence at an unbelievable hour, and Gakuhou doesn’t kill them because there’s an emotion Gakushuu feels when he looks at Gakuhou, and Gakuhou is unable to respond in turn. Karma Akabane is, that same feeling in the tears brimming at his eyes, knelt down by Gakushuu’s bedside with his lips to Gakushuu’s knuckles and hand gripping so hard at the mattress that his knuckles are white. It’s there in the way Irina Jelavic kisses Gakushuu on the forehead, pushes a cup of healing potion into his hands and cradles his mending wing like it’s her own. 

Gakushuu looks at Karma Akabane with stars in his eyes the way he once looked at Gakuhou, and Gakuhou almost wishes he could feel what they feel, if only he could understand, but in his heart is an empty space of anger at himself and Ivanoff and Gakushuu, resignation at the Court’s decision, shame at his loss of control…

...relief, happiness, Gakushuu is alive. 

He supposes that status or money or power can always be gained, he’d worked up from scratch and he can do it again. He could find another suitable human to sire a child with, and he’ll know all the right steps this time, the appropriate way to train their magic and hone their flight skills. This halfling will never be able to fly again, anyways, and his reputation will once again hit rock bottom, dragging Gakuhou down with him. There’s a solution, Maria tells him, and all he has to do is to give Gakushuu up. An equal exchange, a life for a life, Gakushuu’s for Ivanoff, and it would be like nothing has ever happened. He could even get a couple more halfling children if he wanted, nobody would be willing to parent their own but Gakushuu’s strange achievements have garnered interest in Gakuhou’s project, he’d be given more support this time round and he could have multiple experimental halflings.

Except none of them will really be Gakushuu, would they? 

Gakuhou’s spent 15 years raising this child. He’d spent more years on plants, more on a single project, more on battling his insurance company for an appropriate figure. This should be nothing to him, a passing blink. He’d have hundreds of 15-years to spend on nonsensical projects and little nothings. It should have been an easy decision, do what Gakushuu was always made to do.

But instead Gakuhou says, “that’s my son we’re talking about.” 

“You’re in no position to throw your power around,” Pietria says.

“I do not wish to,” Gakuhou says, “but halfling or not, that’s my son. You have a child as well, Pietria, and if I were to flay him from limb to limb I have no doubt you would be willing to end my life as well,” he pauses, looking around the room, “and you would be justified if you did so.”

“The child is not even a full demon,” Lys points out. “Perhaps you’re developing an… unhealthy sort of attachment to it, it would be beneficial to step away from-”

“Him, Lys,” Gakuhou snaps. "Not it."

There's a pause. 

Gakuhou grows desperate. "They were both in contracts," he grits out, "Ivanoff and Gakushuu." Across the room Aina's eyes flick upwards. 

"The halfling is in a contract," Pietria says slowly, an eyebrow raised. "With a human?" 

"Yes," Gakuhou says. "He is. Ivanoff threatened his contractee. They were in a group and amongst them was a witch who led to the exorcism of Derek and Lorcan."

"What of the witch?" Jacquelaine says.

Gakuhou thinks Irina could be an open point of collaboration, as demon-human relations worth looking into when dealing with a halfling of each raise. It's not a point he raises because interaction outside of research and a contract is not encouraged and Gakuhou doesn't need further ammunition against him. Instead he says "she is of no interest," and it's dropped. 

"A half demon in a contract," Ikeda says, leaning forward. "That's new, is it? I think it's worth keeping around to watch it"s development." That statement earns some discussion and from what Gakuhou picks up, the general consensus is that yes, it is very academically interesting. The fact that the contract led to the death of one of their own is non ideal and incredibly perplexing. 

"He still has a year left before his next assessment," Gakuhou says slowly, even though this decision could be changed depending on the outcome of today's court.

"Speaking of," Saravanan says, "where is he?"

There's a lengthy pause. "Recuperating," Gakuhou says stiffly. "I only managed to intervene after the fight had went on for some time. Ivanoff had no qualms about killing Gakushuu, he sustained rather… mortal injuries."

"A year, then," Lord Wilkes says, voice echoing in the room, and what remaining chatter quietens. "A year till his second cycle assessment, it shall proceed as scheduled, Then 2 more years until the next."

"My lord?" Gakuhou says softly. 

"I hear 18 is the human age of adulthood," Lord Wilkes says peacefully. He doesn't elaborate. He turns to his other high council board members. Out of the four who have deigned to appear, the other two do not reply, and Aina rolls her eyes but says nothing.

"Stand up," Gakuhou says, and Gakushuu grits his teeth and gets to his feet, legs planted apart and a blade gripped tightly in his hands. His one single wing flutters uselessly behind him, blood seeping into the bandage from where his stitches have probably torn. Gakuhou thinks it's an effort, but Gakushuu would be immediately killed if this happened again, now that he can't use his greatest advantage and outrun his assailant. Gakuhou doesn't know if he can protect him further. "We go again," he says, and Gakushuu palms the hilt and readies to strike.

Gakuhou gets there a bit too late, he's there too late, Gakushuu is crumpled on the ground in his own blood and Irina is sobbing and he's holding onto Akabane who's screaming in hysterics, Gakuhou drops him and instinctively pries the demon off his son and flings him as far as he can manage. There's another battle in the air between Koro-sensei and what seems to be another being like him but it's none of his concern, this is another Ivanoff situation and-

-Gakuhou visibly relaxes. Across him hovers Ikeda, who's rubbing his head with a disgruntled expression, blood flowing down his temple freely. "We took the contracts," Ikeda says, "when we realized we would come into contact with Gakushuu." It's a favor, Gakuhou realizes, because given the order any other demon would have already done Gakushuu in, but Ikeda has clearly left Gakushuu alive, Gakuhou cannot beget the maiming, but… 

"We?" He says.

Gakuhou looks down. Holding a struggling Gakushuu by the collar is none other than Aina. Gakuhou lets out a sigh of relief. 

Gakushuu's eyes shine brighter than the stars in the night when the twin wings, stunted and fragile and easily torn apart, bursts from his back and arches to cover the constellations that dot the sky.

Karma Akabane looks at him in awe and gasps, an exhilarated beam on his face despite the scrapes marring it. He looks at Gakushuu the way Gakushuu used to look at him a long time ago before his mother died, but when Gakushuu turns he meets Gakuhou's unwavering gaze with his own, tears brimming in his eyes. There's a foreign feeling there Gakuhou wishes he could understand but around him, fireflies light up the forest and grief melts into gold, and it's an emotion so raw and human it almost hurts.

Gakuhou is 232 years old and he should have had plenty of 15 years to throw away, but he thinks this past 15 years are something he'll never be able to get anytime else. It's not a decision that came easy to him and he'll never walk in Court the same way again, but he doesn't regret it. He thinks he would burn down the world and the entire fucking demon council for this boy in front of him.  Gakuhou wants to tell Aina she was right all those years ago, but she looks at him like she already knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it. Whew, this was a little bit of a lengthy one, huh. Well hopefully after a bit I'll wrap up my remaining WIPs for Karushuu week and start on a multi-chapter fic sometime soon.
> 
> Do I love Gakuhou? Yeah, I do. Do I think he's a real shitty parent and honestly deserves more pain and suffering in canon? Absolutely. Do I love Asano family bonding despite that anyways? 100%.   
> It's probably a bit weird to evaluate of my stance of Gakuhou as a parent because my fics tend to take a lighthearted approach to the Asano family dynamics and, depending on the fic, might gloss them over entirely, but I mean I definitely don't think of Gakuhou as a good parent. Canon really didn't do the victims of abusive parents justice in my opinion, in the end Gakushuu "forgives" Gakuhou for no reason, Nagisa goes back to his mother, Karma's (and one could argue, Kayano's) parents are clearly neglectful and yet nothing is ever said about them. There's a rather unnecessary redemption arc for Gakuhou and Hiromi (not to say they don't deserve redemption but it's unfair to their children especially since their trauma is pushed aside in favor of their parents' changes of heart). I mean to be fair it ties in with the shows message on the "people can change" theme where we completely skip over the fact that Koro-sensei is a mass murderer (and also a shitty parent if you think about him and little-Reaper, who was a kid at the time) and redeem him because he had a change-of-heart. I mean, it's not a bad message and the anime wasn't about domestic abuse, but it was still a shame especially since it kind of perpetuates the image of a bunch of abusers being forgiven by their victims without any real consequences. Like Hiromi says sorry once and gets her hubby and son back and I'm supposed to believe she stopped being psycho and hurting her son after 14 years of that kind of treatment? Is my boy doing okay??
> 
> That's lengthy. Back to gwen's (erratically) scheduled fic recommendations:  
> [One Bad Day by inDenial89](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21909271) which is about poor little Gakushuu and Gakuhou's horrid parenting.  
> [Pinocchio by Wondercookie05](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21867970) which is about slightly older Gakushuu featuring Gakuhou's horrid parenting.  
> Is it just me or are you also sensing a theme going on here? [Never Walk Away by Emperor_Quarter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15578490) which, wow, surprise, is also about Gakushuu and Gakuhou's bad parenting! But this fic is sweeter than the other two and has good five-virtuosos bonding. 
> 
> There's tons more i would like to recommend but I'll stick to the theme and leave it here today. Stick around, more fics are coming soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked that? Let me know what you think!


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